IndyCar

[ad_1] Matheus Leist, the 2016 BRDC British Formula 3 champion, has signed for AJ Foyt Racing and will partner fellow Brazilian Tony Kanaan for the 2018 IndyCar season. Leist will become the youngest driver in the series when he makes his debut, with Foyt having made the expected decision not to retain either Conor Daly

[ad_1] Schmidt Peterson Motorsports driver James Hinchcliffe says the new 2018 IndyCar universal aerokit will remove a “band-aid” of downforce that helped weaker teams compete. The new kit will replace the outgoing manufacturer-built spec and will lead to an overall reduction in downforce to help cars follow each other on track. Sebastien Bourdais has said

[ad_1] Ed Jones says his surprise Chip Ganassi Racing switch was due to delays in re-signing with Dale Coyne Racing for the 2018 IndyCar season without his Indy Lights scholarship funds. Jones had been expected to undertake a second season with Coyne after a successful first year in which he became the unexpected team leader,

[ad_1] Schmidt Peterson Motorsports has signed leading IndyCar race engineer Todd Malloy to be the team’s new technical director in its first year as an enhanced Honda partner for 2018. SPM had identified its reliance on James Hinchliffe as a weakness, targeting and signing Mercedes DTM driver Robert Wickens for the second car, two months

[ad_1] IndyCar champion Josef Newgarden believes Penske’s recent dominance of the championship can continue in 2018 and that it could make the new aerokit its advantage by adapting quickly. The championship will have a radically different new universal aerokit next year, replacing the engine manufacturer designed builds, and drivers believe it will reset the playing

[ad_1] One-time Indianapolis 500 winner Scott Dixon says IndyCar’s new universal aerokit for 2018 could make qualifying for next year’s race “super-easy”. Dixon tested at Indianapolis and Texas Motor Speedway for Chip Ganassi in the second of four manufacturer-led tests before teams begin their own running in 2018. After completing the test Dixon, who has

[ad_1] Brendon Hartley’s provisional 2018 Chip Ganassi Racing IndyCar contract had a caveat in case a Formula 1 team approached him, Autosport understands. Hartley made his F1 debut with Toro Rosso at the United States Grand Prix as Pierre Gasly made a failed attempt to win the Super Formula championship. Toro Rosso then dropped Daniil

[ad_1] A deal for IndyCar to race at the Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix venue in August 2018 is 99% complete, according to sources close to the race organisers. Mexico City was listed as a provisional host venue on the 2018 IndyCar calendar as it had not been able to secure the date before calendar

[ad_1] Chip Ganassi Racing has signed IndyCar rookie of the year Ed Jones for the 2018 season. Jones made his IndyCar debut with Dale Coyne Racing this year after graduating from Indy Lights and led the team in the absence of Sebastien Bourdais following his Indianapolis 500 qualifying crash. Dale Coyne had been keen to

[ad_1] IndyCar could scrap its push-to-pass system because the new-for-2018 universal aerokit should allow cars to follow more closely, although it is unlikely to be dropped for next year. The push-to-pass overtaking aid was added by IndyCar in 2012 for Toronto’s street race and utilised a turbocharger boost to allow cars to overtake more easily

[ad_1] IndyCar champion Josef Newgarden has backed the series’ decision to reject the adoption of a Formula 1-style halo and pursue its own cockpit protection system instead. The single-seater series plans to test its own “windshield” cockpit protection device in the coming months after rejecting the halo as a viable solution. Newgarden told reporters at

[ad_1] IndyCar wants to end the “random” elements of its races for 2018 and ensure “purity” by changing the rules regarding pitting under full-course yellow cautions. Until now IndyCar has closed the pits under a full-course yellow and drivers who had stopped just before can vault to the front when the leaders pit after the

[ad_1] IndyCar wants to test its version of a cockpit protection system within the next two months to decide if it will be implemented for the 2018 season. The championship had ruled out using a system similar to Formula 1’s halo due to the lack of visibility for drivers on ovals and has since worked

[ad_1] Juncos Racing will field its Indy Lights champion Kyle Kaiser in IndyCar on a part-time schedule in 2018. Kaiser won the Lights title this season in his third year in the category, and received a $1million scholarship from Mazda to assemble a partial IndyCar programme. The 21-year-old has now been confirmed for a four-race

[ad_1] Schmidt Peterson Motorsports IndyCar team has held talks with ex-Formula 1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya about running him at the Indianapolis 500. Montoya had been hoping to make a second consecutive appearance at the Indy 500 with Penske after he was replaced by Josef Newgarden full-time for 2017. Penske has switched Montoya to its

[ad_1] James Hinchcliffe will continue with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports next season, having signed a new multi-year extension to partner new driver Robert Wickens. Hinchcliffe had been expected to remain at the team for 2018, with SPM enhancing its relationship with Honda ahead of the new season. He says that the team’s new status with Honda

[ad_1] Robert Wickens will leave the Mercedes DTM team to race for Schmidt Peterson Motorsport in IndyCar for the 2018 season. Wickens had been looking to move to IndyCar after Mercedes confirmed it would quit the DTM at the end of 2018. He had been on the radar for Schmidt Peterson for some time, having

[ad_1] IndyCar has explained its decision to replace Watkins Glen with Portland on its 2018 calendar, and has left the door open for the outgoing venue to return in the future. Watkins Glen returned to the IndyCar schedule in 2016 after a street race in Boston collapsed, but it suffered low attendance in its two-year

[ad_1] Michael Andretti says he hopes his IndyCar outfit will be able to partner with the McLaren Formula 1 team for a second attempt at the Indianapolis 500 in 2018. McLaren raced at this year’s Indy 500 for the first time since 1979, offering Fernando Alonso an attempt to complete the second leg of motorsport’s

[ad_1] IndyCar is targeting an early August race at Mexico City, replacing the now vacant World Endurance Championship slot, and believes it’s “possible” for the race to happen in 2018. Autosport has learned that IndyCar was in discussions to add a race at the Mexican Grand Prix venue, after previously considering an oval race at

[ad_1] IndyCar has dropped Watkins Glen for its 2018 season with the championship set to return to Portland, while Autosport understands Mexico City could yet be added to the calendar. The removal of Watkins Glen for Portland is the only change to last year’s schedule. Watkins Glen had been added to the 2016 calendar when

[ad_1] Honda and Chevrolet have begun their manufacturer testing of the new 2018 IndyCar aerokit, with the engine builders conducting running at Mid-Ohio and Road America respectively. Chevrolet ran Penske driver and 2016 IndyCar champion Simon Pagenaud alongside Ed Carpenter Racing’s Spencer Pigot at Road America yesterday, in the first of five days allocated to

[ad_1] Penske drivers Josef Newgarden and Will Power have called for a change to IndyCar’s oval qualifying format because the current system can disadvantage some drivers in title contention. At all ovals aside from Indianapolis, the running order for the one-by-one qualifying is currently decided by names being drawn from a hat – giving an

[ad_1] Tony Kanaan says both he and his new AJ Foyt Racing team needed a change in order to win IndyCar races in 2018. The 2004 IndyCar champion has not won a race since ’14, his first year with Chip Ganassi Racing. His four-year spell with the team came to an end this season when

[ad_1] Tony Kanaan has signed a multi-year contract to drive for AJ Foyt Racing in the IndyCar Series from 2018. It had been known that the team was negotiating with the 2004 champion and 2013 Indianapolis 500 winner, once it became clear that Kanaan’s tenure at Chip Ganassi Racing was ending after four years. Foyt

[ad_1] Roger Penske has ruled out running a fifth car at IndyCar’s Indianapolis 500 in 2018 for Juan Pablo Montoya. Montoya will drive full-time in the IMSA Sportscar Championship next season as part of Penske’s all-new Acura DPi programme after switching to an Indianapolis-only IndyCar schedule last year. The ex-Formula 1 driver had recently said

[ad_1] Stefan Wilson is set to make his second Indianapolis 500 start next year after agreeing a deal to drive an Andretti Autosport-run entry in the 2018 event. Wilson, the younger brother of the late IndyCar driver Justin, contested the 2016 running of the race for the now defunct KVSH Racing outfit. He had made

[ad_1] Four-time CART champion and Dale Coyne Racing driver Sebastien Bourdais says the outgoing manufacturer aerokit era “hurt” IndyCar’s standing. IndyCar opened up the Dallara IR-12 aerokit to manufacturers in 2015, which resulted in a steep increase in costs. It also caused a split field as Honda struggled to adapt to the changes early on.

[ad_1] Juan Pablo Montoya wants to make a sixth Indianapolis 500 appearance in 2018, and hopes that racing with Penske in the IMSA SportsCar Championship will not prevent it. Montoya lost his full-time IndyCar seat to eventual 2017 champion Josef Newgarden at the beginning of this year, and was later confirmed as one of Penske’s

[ad_1] Josef Newgarden was crowned 2017 IndyCar Series champion earlier this month, completing his rise from young hopeful to American superstar. A key player in his success is former Autosport journalist Jeremy Shaw, whose Team USA Scholarship allowed Newgarden to race in Formula Ford in the United Kingdom. In this video from Motorsport.tv’s weekly programme